New Hope?
by FanFicFanGirl2
Summary: Amber Dixon had lost her father and uncle when it all broke out. She found Hershel and his family and was welcomed with open arms. They made her part of their family, but really, all she wanted was her real family. Little did she know, they were closer than she thought...
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is my first ever fanfic so, go easy on me? Thank you! Oh and I don't own any of the Walking Dead characters.**

Chapter One

"Hey Amber, you okay?" Maggie asked me as she came out on to the porch and saw me sat alone.

I nodded, I just needed some air, after the boy a bit younger than myself got shot, and him and his parents were both here, there were just a few too many people in that house at the moment.

She walked closer with her hands in the pockets of her worn out jeans, and sat on the floor with her knees up. "You know, you don't have to stay by yourself all the time here. You're not gonna be leaving anytime soon, you're part of the family now." She tried to comfort me when all I could think about was my real family, the one I'd lost when the world went to garbage.

Maggie had found me when she was on a trip to the town for supplies. I'd been on my own for a while now, I'd lost track while I was alone though, all the days just sort of blurred together. I was on the move at all times and I ended up staying in a store in the nearby town, where Maggie was headed. She took me back to Hershel's farm and he took care of a few of my wounds from trying to defend myself from walkers.

That's what my daddy had let me call them when we were still on the road together. He wanted to call them biters, but I just thought walkers rolled off the tongue a bit easier. He laughed at me when I told him that, said I had too much time on my hands to think about stuff like that and then ruffled my hair. But he was gone now, I'd lost him, and in a world of cannibals, it'd be quite hard to find someone again, especially when they're most likely dead. I'd learnt that the hard way.

Maggie looked at me, like she was deep in thought, trying to understand me or something. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" She said.

I shook my head, I did really, I hated telling people about myself, it made me think about the life I had and how I used to think it was bad, but I'd swap it for this any day.

"Why were you by yourself when I found you?" She asked, intrigued to find an answer.

I took a deep breath in and began talking, but stuttering, "I, I los' my dad when a bunch o' walkers c-came from nowhere. My uncle an' my dad go' separated from me an' I ended up goin' round by m-myself, lookin' for 'em, but I didn't find 'em, as ya'll can tell." That was the first time I'd told anyone what had happened, I hated opening up to someone I barely knew, but at least it was off my chest, finally.

Her face looked at me in almost horror. Then she simply stood up and sat next to me, putting her arm around me and gripping me tightly, then releasing. "Amber, I- I had no idea." She said sympathetically.

"It's fine." I kept back a tear, though it pained me to do so, I just wanted let go of all my emotions, but I was a tough girl, my daddy always told me that anyway.

After a few minutes of Maggie and I sitting there in silence, we heard two male voices coming from the dark. They were discussing whether they should knock on the door of the farmhouse or just walk straight in. Maggie looked at me and rolled her eyes jokingly. I smiled back at her and she stood up.

"You close the gate up the road when you drove in?" Maggie startled them both; they had no idea we were there.

One of the men was Asian and as soon as he saw Maggie, he stuttered, eventually he managed to say something, "Hi, yes, we closed it, um, latch and everything." His friend was beyond caring and had a pretty bad wound on his arm, it looked as if he'd been bit and was trying to find someone who could help him but there was no chance of that.

Maggie and Glenn started talking, just general conversation but all I could focus on was the man's wound, and that he could be dangerous. He saw my staring and looked at me defensively. "It's not a bite."

I raised an eyebrow at him, doubtfully.

"I cut myself pretty bad though." Maggie looked over her shoulder at me and nodded, telling me he'd be safe. I just nodded back and went to playing with my fingers in my lap with my head down.

"Come on inside, I'll get you some tea." Maggie opened the door for them and before walking in herself turned to me, "You coming Amber?"

I shook my head and smiled at her; she shrugged her shoulders and followed them inside. I just stared out into the darkness, deep in my thoughts.

Not long after, Rick and his wife came out; I hadn't quite caught her name when she rushed in with Maggie. I didn't think they'd seen me and started talking about Carl, about how it wasn't a world for children anymore. I felt like I was disobeying my daddy; he'd always told me to stay out of things that weren't any of my business and right now, I was eavesdropping on the other side of the porch.

Before they got any further into the conversation I stood up quietly, trying not to be noticed but as I reached for the handle of the door they soon enough both turned around to see me.

Rick apologized, I wasn't sure why, I was the one in the wrong, eavesdropping on them. "I'm sorry, we didn't realise you were out here."

"I'm sorry." I apologized too, making my way into the house quickly. I went to sit down in the living room where it was calmer and there were no people around. After being alone for long enough, I decided to see Maggie, I wanted to talk to her about the Asian guy.

I walked into the room to find the Asian boy leaving, as his friend's arm was being stitched up by Patricia, and he was using Maggie's hand to squeeze for the pain. I looked at the chair opposite Patricia, for approval to sit down. She smiled at me and nodded.

Maggie looked up at me, thought in her face once again. "Say, Amber, what's your last name?"

I looked at her strangely. "Dixon, Amber Dixon, why?" It was such a random question to ask at this time.

The man's face looked up at me in extreme confusion and Maggie's eyes widened in excitement.

"You're Amber Dixon?" The man asked me in disbelief.

"Yeah? What about it?" I felt like I was the only one not in on a joke or something.

"So you're the one Merle brought up in a conversation that one time and Daryl walked away at the mention of your name?" The man told himself and asked me.

My face lit up at the sound of my uncle and daddy's name. "Ya'll know my daddy?" I shot up from the chair with eagerness.

"Daryl? Course I do! He's back on the highway with the rest of our group!" He said.

My stomach started doing back flips and my heart beat faster and faster with excitement.

I looked over to Maggie who was grinning madly too, she was happy for me, and by the looks of it, so was Patricia.

"Is he comin' here?" I asked eagerly.

"Maybe, we're not sure yet, but don't ya'll worry girl, you're gonna see your daddy again soon." He grinned at me and I couldn't help but run and hug him.

"Say, what's your name?" I asked him, being friendly.

"Theodore, but call me T-Dog?" He smiled at me and then went back to grimacing at the pain. I looked to Maggie, who just nodded and then pulled a face as T-Dog squeezed her hand tighter.

"Thanks T-Dog." I tucked under my chair and made my way upstairs for the rest of the evening.

**AN: Thank you for reading the first chapter, please review and thank you once again...**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It was early in the morning and I was inside helping Hershel out with Carl. His parents were in there too, by his side, but then again, when weren't they? I was just doing small things like passing Hershel his stethoscope, checking Carl's temperature, generally just making sure he was okay.

He started to come around again, and the first thing he mentioned was a girl called Sophia, he asked if she was okay. Rick told him she was fine and that he needed to get some rest. Then he turned to me.

"Thank you for helping my son." He tried to be kind.

"I jus' wanna make sure he's okay, an' help pass time." I said perching on the edge of the bed.

"You waiting for somethin'?" His wife asked me.

I swallowed heavily and then spoke, "My daddy." Just the thought of being with my daddy made me smile madly.

"Who's you're daddy?" Rick asked me, curiously.

With that, T-Dog came bursting in the room to tell us that 'they' were here. Then he turned to me. "You're daddy's here." He smiled at me.

Without a second thought I darted past him, like a 6 year old on Christmas morning, just too excited.

As I got out the door and observed the scene, searching for my dad, I saw him, getting off of my uncle's motorcycle. "Daddy!" I shouted at the top of lungs. He turned around, recognising my voice and stood there in awe, not knowing what to do.

I shot down the steps of the porch and over to him, he bent down and opened his arms out. I flung myself onto him and we wrapped our arms around each other tightly, not wanting to lose each other ever again.

After a few emotional seconds, I stood back away from him and smiled at him. I had a tear dripping down face; he saw and wiped it away with his rough hands, which could be gentle when he wanted. I looked back at him, into his eyes, and saw a tear building up in there too, but he wouldn't let it escape. He looked around to see everyone staring and stood up straight to them. He placed his hand on my shoulder as I turned around to face them all.

"This is my daughter evr'yone, Amber." He said proudly. Half of the people here already knew my name, but to them, I was just Amber the lonely girl, but now, I was Amber Dixon, Daryl's daughter, it was such a better title.

I looked at Maggie to see her smiling at me. Then looked up at my dad, needing to ask him a question.

"Daddy?" I said softly. He nodded and so I carried on, "Where's uncle Merle?"

I saw his and the rest of the groups faces drop, it was bad news. My dad sighed and then patted my shoulder, not wanting to tell me just yet. I couldn't help but let my bottom lip quiver slightly, I didn't want to cry in front of all these people, I didn't want to show to them that I wasn't capable of controlling my emotions, but it couldn't be helped. He saw that I understood that Merle wasn't with them anymore, and he seemed like he knew just what was going through my mind so turned me around and lead me to the back of the RV, in private.

"Hey, baby girl, don't cry." He stood me up against the RV and stooped down to my level. His hands grabbed my arms and shook me gently.

I sniffled and wiped a tear that was rolling down my cheek, and then looked down to the ground. He touched my chin and lifted my head up to face him.

"He dead?" I asked bluntly.

He breathed in then out heavily and then said, "We don't know."

I looked at him like he'd said something extremely insensitive and stupid, "What's that supposed to mean?" I started to get louder but then remembered that the rest of the group were still outside and able to hear me.

"Shh, just calm down." He comforted me. "It's a bit of a long story really, but he ended up chained to a roof, and when we went back to get him, he was gone."

It was as if he was speaking to me in a foreign language and none of his words were making any sense to me. "If he was chained to the roof then how did he git out?" I asked worriedly.

He sighed again, "He'd cut off his hand to get outta the handcuffs."

I was disgusted and shocked, my jaw dropped and my eyes grew wider. After a few moments, what I had just been told sunk in and I looked at my dad with my big blue eyes which I'd inherited from him. "Do you think he's dead?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Naw, it's Merle ain't it? He's your uncle Merle! Nothin' can kill him." He tried to reassure me and as he straightened himself back up he ruffled my hair and gave me a sympathetic smile.

I finally accepted the reality of the situation and tried to make myself look somewhat better. I started to walk back to the rest of the group and they all looked over and made me feel extremely awkward; I lowered my head and went to join the rest of them.

Before long they were organising a funeral for Otis. It was the first I'd heard of it though; I didn't even know he'd left! He'd gone on a run to the nearby High School with a man named Shane and hadn't returned last night according to Maggie.

I hardly knew Otis but I was mainly upset for the Greene family and their loss. They were such a lovely, kind, caring family and most definitely didn't deserve this.

We all gathered around in an arch on the grass as Hershel said prayers and such. I stood with my dad; I finally had the family I thought I'd lost. Maybe not all of it, but at least someone who understood me fully and what I'd been through.

We each took turns to take a rock from a wheelbarrow and place it on a large pile of them. Then Shane, the man who had gone with Otis to the school, and saw him die was pressured into speaking about Otis' final moments.

As he spoke of Otis being the hero, saying that he'd cover Shane but when Shane looked back, well he stopped talking there but I guessed that the walkers had caught him.

The more I thought about it, the more I realised how grateful I was to still have some of my family alive. Sure it was just the one person, but that one person was the only thing in this world that gave me any hope. Before my dad showed up, I was thinking about leaving here, on my own once again, if I died, nobody would know, nobody would care. All the people I ever knew thought I was dead, or they were already dead themselves. But then this morning, I felt the urge to keep close to my daddy, and spend all the time I had left with a loved one, that was one of the only things I had left on my mind, and wanted to do.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

While it was still daylight, everyone went about, getting jobs done. The new members staying at the farm were organising a search for a girl called Sophia, apparently she was about my age and she'd been lost in the woods for three days now! I'd already coped on my own for about a month, it couldn't be that hard for her, plus, she had people looking for her, I'll bet I didn't.

Rick, Shane, Hershel, Maggie, my dad, and a blonde woman, I think her name was Andrea were looking at a map on the bonnet of a car. They were organising where each of them would search for her. I was helping the new members though, putting up their tents. The Asian boy, Glenn, and I were working on one tent and he started talking to me whilst doing so.

"So, you're Daryl's daughter?" He asked.

"Yeah, an' proud." I said, glancing over to see my dad walking away from the discussion near the car.

"Do you mind me asking why you weren't with him all this time?" He said sheepishly, not wanting to touch upon any sensitive subjects, though this was a sensitive subject.

I sighed, "We got separated when we were headed to Atlanta. Him and Merle, then me on my own." I said this briefly, not wanting to go into details.

He nodded then looked up at me with his eyebrows raised, "So, you were by yourself? For how long?"

"About a month or so, I lost track after 'bout a week." I said, trying my best to remember any dates at all, but I was hopeless.

He seemed surprised, "But you're like, 12, aren't you?"

I nodded, although I was 12, I'd had the survival skills of someone much older. It was because of all the things my dad and uncle Merle used to teach me, like hunting, and tracking, and Merle tried to teach me how to do things like pickpocketing, and picking locks, but there was nobody to pickpocket anymore, and my dad hated me doing it, and hated it when Merle encouraged me. Personally, I hated it too, I felt like I was a criminal or something, and I didn't want to end up like one of those people in and out of prison all the time. Then again, that was what Merle was like, so he was just telling me about all the stuff he knew from experience.

"You killed any walkers?" He asked, getting back on with putting the tent up.

I looked up at him, shocked by the fact he called them walkers, "Walkers? You call 'em walkers?"

"Yeah, when we were all trying to think of a name for them, Daryl suggested it. We asked him where he got the idea, but he said he didn't wanna talk about it."

I smiled; he'd gotten the idea from me when we were still on the road together. "So he finally realised the logic an' genius behin' my thinkin'?" I joked around with him.

"Oh, so it was you who thought of it?" He smiled back at me.

I giggled, "Yeah, back when we were on the road together."

"I like your thinking." He laughed. "So did you kill any of them?"

I nodded, feeling for the knife I'd used in my back pocket and the pistol I'd had to use in an emergency this one time. "Yeah, when I was clearin' this small store out, I had to kill about ten, I picked 'em off one by one and got all of 'em with my knife, didn't have to use no bullets." I smiled, proudly.

He seemed astounded, "Well you sure do take after your dad."

I smiled at this, and was about to thank him, when Maggie came over from the conversation at the car.

"Hi, Amber, how're ya?" She asked politely.

"I'm fine thanks, you?" I asked her back.

"I'm okay; I'm gonna go make a pharmacy run," She turned to Glenn this time, "You comin'?" She asked him.

He stared at her, not knowing what to say back.

"I'll go saddle your horse then." She said, brushing past me briefly as she went by. I stopped her and whispered to her so Glenn couldn't hear and began talking to Dale.

"Listen, I think Glenn really likes you, like, _really_ likes you." I hinted at her.

She smiled as if she already knew. "Ya think?" She asked, squinting her eyes in the sun.

I nodded and then grinned at her, shaking my head jokingly. She carried on walking away and I turned to Glenn, smiling.

"What?" He asked me, confused.

"Oh, nothin'." I finished straightening out the poles for the tent and turned around to see my dad, wandering off with his crossbow over his shoulder, like he always did, and ran over to him.

"Dad?" I called his name and he looked down to see me at his feet almost.

"Yeah?" He said, stopping in his tracks.

"Where ya'll goin'?" I asked him curiously.

"To find Sophia, that girl that we're all lookin' for." He started walking again but I stood in front of him again.

"Can I come?" I asked, knowing it was a long shot.

"Naw, I need to go on my own for now." He started walking again when he halted at Rick's shouting of him. I turned around to see Rick making his way over to us.

They started talking about where Daryl was going and such, I just stood there awkwardly, not knowing whether to leave or stay. Dad made his way up the path, on his way out and I just turned and looked at Rick.

"How're you doin' Amber?" He asked me, taking a few steps closer.

"I'm better now; I've got my dad now." I said, smiling just at the thought.

"I'm happy for you, I am." He said nodding. "Have you met everyone yet?"

I shook my head, "I mainly just pick up people's names when someone shouts for them or somethin'." I explained.

"Well you've met me, my wife Lori, and my son Carl, yeah?" He asked.

I nodded, "Not properly, but I know who ya'll are."

"Well, you could talk to Carl you know, when he gets better at least. He's a good kid," He turned to leave and then spoke again, "And so are you." He nodded and I smiled back at him. He seemed friendly enough, and his family didn't seem that bad, there weren't really any bad people in our group, well, from what I knew so far.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Yeah, this isn't exactly the best chapter ever and doesn't really do much for the story but I felt like I needed it in there so Amber could talk with a few more of the characters. Sorry.**

Chapter Four

As my dad was out looking for that girl, Sophia, I decided maybe I should try to make friends with these people, it's better to be surrounded by people who know you and don't like you, than people who you never gave a chance after all. I made my way over to where the majority of the group were gathered, all examining a well in the ground.

As I neared, I realised they were lowering some cooked ham as bait on a rope down to a walker inside the well who had grown gills and was infecting the water in the well, therefore, it needed to be killed.

"What're ya'll doin'?" I startled them as I spoke, causing most of their heads to look up to me.

"We need to get this walker out of the well, but it's not really working." Dale explained, like he was exasperated and fed up. They brought up the cooked ham and sighed as the helpless walker tried grabbing them but simply caught the air.

"We need live bait." Andrea stated as she looked to Glenn, hinting that he'd be the bait.

Glenn's face dropped, they always used him as the bait, I'm not sure why though, I mean, surely if you're going to risk someone, shouldn't it be someone you hate? No, that's a horrible thing to say, if my dad ever caught me thinking something like that he'd have me down in the well myself used as bait! Actually, that wasn't such a bad idea, I was quick, light and small, I would be easy to lower, well easier than Glenn.

"Why me?" Glenn complained.

"I'll do it!" I blurted out. Everyone stared at me, almost questioning if I knew what I was doing.

"Are you crazy?" Shane stepped forward, towards me.

"What? I'll be easy for you to low'r me down there. I had to do worse while I was on my own." I tried to persuade them.

"What about your dad? What would he say if he found out? That we used you for live bait?" Dale started lecturing me.

"So it's okay to do it with Glenn but not me?" I said, pointing over to Glenn who smiled lightly at me for sort of defending him.

Shane looked over his shoulder, as if he was persuaded by me, but wanted to see the rest of the group's views. Lori stood up then, and made her way over to Shane's side.

"You are a child!" She said, almost aggravated by me.

As I was about to defend myself, another voice spoke up, it was T-Dog's, "I'm not mad when I say this, but she does have a point."

I smiled at him, for taking my side against the others.

Then Andrea spoke too, "I agree with T-Dog, she's light, small, and let's admit it, she knows what she's doin'." She also defended me, looking at me and nodding.

Lori marched over to Andrea, stomping her feet on the ground like a small child having a tantrum because they weren't getting their own way. "Fine, if you want to send a little girl down a well on a rope as live bait to a walker, then you do that, but I'm not taking part." She glanced over to me one more time, before turning away swiftly and walking back to the farmhouse.

Shane looked at me, then to the rest. Dale nodded his head, and they agreed that it was me going down into the well.

They all began preparing the contraption that would lower me down into the well. By contraption, I mean the ropes really. Once they'd finished, I sat on the edge of the well and Andrea tied the end of the rope around my waist at the front. I took the noose that the walker would grab on to and be hoisted up by and threw it on my shoulder. I gripped the torch in my left hand and looked to the rest of the group I had only met this morning but was trusting them with my life. They were lined up, holding onto the rope that I was attached to, and was wrapped around a pipe structure or something coming from the ground.

"Take it nice and slow?" I asked them, swallowing hard at the end.

Andrea looked to me, her eyes sincere, "Don't worry, we will." She stood up straight again and went to join the back of the line.

"You people are crazy." Maggie was only watching, not wanting any participation whatsoever. She looked at me like she couldn't believe that I had even offered to do this.

"Wanna get it outta your well or not?" Shane said as if he was sick of the arguing.

"Give us an eye there Maggie." Dale asked her.

She sighed heavily but walked over anyway. I looked up to her, smiling but she didn't return one back. I took one last glance to the rest of the group, while still in the daylight, and then started to climb into the hole.

I let my legs dangle and not touch the sides, and stretched my neck forwards to see the walker below me.

"Doin' okay?" Maggie asked me as they started to lower me down.

"Sure, fine." I said bravely, but my heart was beating twice the speed it should be, and my voice trembled slightly. I got closer and closer towards the disgusting creature; it had noticed me by now and was snatching at the air, wanting to grab my legs. Only a minute or so went by until I was almost close enough, so I took the noose from over my shoulder and hung it below my body.

"Little more." Maggie directed them.

With that, a loud creaking sound came from the surface. The next thing I knew, I was jolted down, far too quick and there was a large thud from above. My legs dangled helplessly in reach of the walker who was too hungry for my liking.

"Help!" I yelled. "Bring me up!" I continued.

There was a lot of shouting coming from up there and it panicked me even more. "Please! Help me!" The torch I was once holding had now dropped into the water and all I could do was look up to the light to see anything that was going on. I tried keeping hold of the sides but that was too hard, and the walker was far too excited for his meal, meaning he was more aggressive than before.

A small part of me let out a sigh of relief when I started rising again, but the rest of me still panicked, in shock and terror. My screams would have attracted walkers from all directions if I weren't inside this well. As the daylight grew nearer and nearer, the more I reached -just like the hungry walker below me- for the top of the well.

After much panic and commotion, I was able to grab on to the sides and pull myself up and be dragged on to the grass by Lori. I thought Lori had gone away? I thought she'd said she wanted no part in it all? I lay on my back, finally safe from that walker, finally relaxing when I was bombarded with questions.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you bit?"

"Did it hurt you?"

"I'm fine!" I yelled over them all.

Everyone seemed to calm down then, and then Dale spoke, "Well, it's back to the drawing board."

I looked up at him and shook my head, "Easy for you to say." I muttered then stood up to go and get myself untangled from all the ropes. Whilst doing so, the noose that I had lowered when I was down there being almost eaten alive had started to move whilst Dale was holding the rope.

It turns out the stupid thing had gotten itself into the trap and was being pulled up by everyone including a horse from the farm. They pulled at the rope while T-Dog and I kept an eye on the rather plump walker rising from under the ground.

As it approached the surface, the bottom half of him got stuck on the edge of the well, still throwing his arms about at T-Dog. The group pulled even more until the bottom half separated from the other half, revealing all of the mangled and disgusting organs. The bottom half tipped itself back into the well, spilling the guts and organs into the water we were once trying to clean. Not anymore though.

His head laid there still, moving from side to side and his arms moving about perfectly well. "What do we do now?" I heard someone say. With that, T-Dog raised his weapon and repeatedly beat the walker in the head until it no longer even had a head, just some bits of flesh covered in goo and mush.

Maggie gagged at the sight and walked away, she had obviously not ever seen one killed up close before. Well, I don't think any of her family had, this was the main thing that made them different from our group.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

We didn't speak of the incident afterwards, and especially when my dad got back from his search. He would have gone mad if he'd found out what had happened.

"How're you likin' ev'ryone then Amber?" Dad asked me as we both sat alone just outside of my dad's tent in the darkness.

"They're nice." I fiddled with my fingers in my lap, "Dad? Can I ask you 'bout Uncle Merle?" I looked up at him, to see him stop twiddling with his crossbow and look straight at me, and then nod.

"I just wanna know, how'd it happen?" I asked, but he looked confused, "How'd he get han'cuffed to tha' roof?"

He seemed to understand more now, "He went with some others to Atlanta. Then Rick showed up an han'cuffed him to a pipe on the ro-"

"Rick?" I interrupted, shocked that anyone who appeared to be as nice as Rick could even think about doing something like that.

He nodded and then carried on. "They left him there and when they came back, I sorta made 'em go back for him. But when we went back, he wasn't there, well, his hand was." He sniggered at his comment but I didn't find it at all funny.

"So it's Rick's fault uncle Merle ain't here?" I raised my voice slightly.

My dad glared at me and shook his head. "It ain't nobody's fault! Don't go round blamin' people when it ain't their fault Amber." He told me sternly.

I stayed silent after this, with my head lowered, focusing on my fingers playing in my lap. It was a nervous habit that my mom had hated, she'd tell me I had to make eye contact with her and not go off into my own little world, daydreaming. I shook away that thought, not wanting to think about my mom. I hadn't done that for a while actually, and realised, it was probably for the best.

"So, I ain't even talked to ya 'bout it yet, but how were ya when you weren't with me?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"It was… tough. I didn't like it that's for sure." I said vaguely.

"Where d'ya go then?" He continued to almost interrogate me.

"Found a few places I s'pose. I stayed in a little store for a while, cos it had all the stuff ya need, ya know. Then I realised tha' somebody had been there before me and must of locked up a load o' those walkers in the back. They got their way through after a bit o' time so I had to move on. Most o' the time I just stayed in a car on the road overnight then moved on the nex' mornin' though." I remembered back to the horrors of being alone and getting away from those walkers. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park.

My dad smiled at me, he actually smiled at me, like he was proud of his little girl. He ruffled my hair like he always used to. And then went back to sorting out his crossbow while talking.

"Listen," He cleared his throat, "I'm sorry." He apologized out of the blue.

"Why? What're ya sorry for?" I asked him.

"I told myself you were dead when you went missin'. I didn't wanna but, I had to, jus' so I could move on." This was one of the first times I'd ever seen my dad apologize to me before, I was always the other way round.

My eyes filled up with tears, I was overwhelmed by what he'd just said. "Daddy… we all have to tell our self stuff we don't wanna sometimes. It's always for the best." I tried to comfort him, everything was as if we were in the wrong roles though. I went over to him and hugged him as he pulled me in.

He mumbled, "I know." He said pulling away from the hug. "Why don't you go get some rest?" Dad told me, using a gentle tone.

I nodded and went off into the house, leaving my dad to do whatever he did. He liked to be alone a lot; he said it was something to do with his thoughts and how he didn't need me in his ear all the time.

I made my way up the stairs and into the spare bedroom. I sat on the sheets, embroidered with fine details around the edges, flowers of pale colours and leaves swirling around freely. The drapes hung over the pitch black windows which were still perfectly intact and not boarded up, unlike most places nowadays. The entire room was a calm and peaceful sanctuary, as if it was shielded from the reality of what the world had become, that was what made me feel safe here, along with the fact that my dad was here, that just made it even better.

I took off my boots and placed them at the side of the bed, next to the wooden bed side cabinet. Then my jacket which had some bits of mud on from today, and hung it over the end of the bed. Then I released my wild hair from the elastic band and slid it onto my wrist. I was about as comfy as I would get; comfort was a luxury in the world now.

I crawled into the sheets and switched off the lamp beside the bed, closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"_Dad? Where's Mom?" I asked as he pushed me away from the front door of our house. I came home from school to find my dad running out the door with tears running down his face, something I rarely ever saw. "Dad? Where is she?" I screamed at him, he wasn't answering any of my questions, I needed to know._

"_Get in the truck Amber!" He yelled at me. I stared at him, shocked and confused. I just wanted to know what was going on!_

"_I want mom! Tell me where she is!" I bawled, as tears started forming in my eyes from the horrible 'what if' thoughts running through my mind._

"_Just do as I say!" He roared straight back at me; his patience was running extremely thin._

_I'd never seen him this mad, even when he was at his worst, something must've been up. I was about to shout back at him but was interrupted by some sort of moaning coming from behind me on the pavement. I turned around to see a man with half of his face missing and a limp, hobbling towards me. My feet stayed glued to the ground but I needed to get away from this monstrous looking man. _

"_Amber!" My dad screamed from behind me as he shoved me out of the way and stabbed the poor man in the head with his pocket knife. _

_I lay on the grass, propping myself up on my elbows to face my dad, in shock at seeing my dad kill another man. "Why did you kill him?" I cried as tears streamed down my face. I stared at the lifeless body on the ground with blood gushing from its temple._

"_That weren't a person Amber." He said to me, standing up and looking around my street._

_My eyes looked in the same direction as my dad's, only to see a dozen more people with limp movements, shuffling towards the rest of the people down my street and piling on to them as they screamed in agony and pain. What were these things? My dad was right, they weren't people._

_I turned back to my dad "Where're we goin'?" I asked, standing up shakily, my legs wobbling about recklessly._

"_Atlanta, it's safe there." He stomped over to the truck hurriedly and opened the door to get in._

"_Wait!" I shouted, causing him to stop and turn to me. "What about mom?" my voice croaked and went gentle, almost like I'd lost it for a moment. My dad simply shook his head and carried on. "No!" I gained my voice again, protesting, not understanding why we couldn't bring mom._

_With that, a familiar figure began banging the windows of our house, trying to get out. They had a chunk of their neck missing and their face was lifeless, just like the man who had limped over to me. Just like the ones piled on top of my neighbours. I then realised, that the figure was my mom..._

Sweat dripped down my forehead and I breathed heavily, noticing that I'd been dreaming and had woken up to see Maggie by my side, stroking my hair.

"You okay?" She whispered; it was still night time. I nodded and then closed my eyes again. I felt Maggie stop stroking my hair and pat my shoulder before drifting off once again.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

I awoke to see light shining through the gap in between the drapes. I don't remember closing them though; maybe Maggie had done it when she came in last night. I rubbed my eyes and tore the blankets away from my skin, slipping out of bed and placing my bare feet on the soft carpet. I walked over to the window and opened the drapes to see most of the group already out, doing their everyday business.

It was like a breath of fresh air, having some normality in my life. Having people around you and not being by yourself, it was like living in my neighbourhood again. I didn't want to think about things that didn't exist anymore though, they just brought me down.

I grabbed my boots and my jacket and made my way through the door, feeling somewhat refreshed and happy. In the kitchen, Patricia was sat drinking a cup of tea with Beth holding her hand. She must have been grieving after Otis' death still.

I carried on and went out on to the porch and sat on the steps to put my boots on. Rick walked by and nodded at me, but all I could do was look away, after hearing he was the reason for my uncle's disappearance. Wait, no, it was nobody's fault, well, that's what my dad said, but we both could tell he wanted to blame it on somebody, and Rick fit the shoe the best.

When I'd finished tying up the laces, I tied my jacket around my waist; it was hotter than I'd planned. I looked around to see my dad sitting on a stump, getting ready to go out searching again. I hated him leaving, and on his own as well. If something were to go wrong, I'd have lost my dad again, and I'd only just got him back.

I walked over to him and he looked up at me when I stood by his side. "You goin' out again?" I asked, but I could already tell.

"Yeah. I got a good lead yesterday; I think I'm almos' there." He told me, like he was proud of himself. "Heard you had a bad dream las' night." He stood up from the stump and looked down at me, "Y'alright?"

I nodded, not wanting to tell him about it, or even remember it for myself.

He ruffled my hair and then went over to where the rest of them were gathering, around the hood of a truck, once again. I started to follow them and stood next to my dad, but he wavered at me, telling me not to listen and to find something else to do. I huffed but did as I was told and turned to see where I could help out.

I walked back to the house to see Glenn playing a guitar while staring into space. "Hey? You here?" I said, joking with him.

He came out of his daydream and looked at me. "Yeah. Sorry."

"You play?" I asked him gesturing to the guitar.

"Oh, this?" He looked down at it almost in disgrace, "Dale found it on the highway."

"Dale?" I tried to remember who he was, "The one who's always on the top of the RV?"

He nodded. "Does your dad know about the well then?" He said.

I glared at him, not wanting to talk about it. I sighed, "Naw, and he ain't gonna." I told him.

He seemed almost scared of me then so I thought I'd lighten the conversation, "So then, you like Maggie?" I said it so swiftly but he couldn't even believe I'd said such a thing.

"What d'you mean?" He was very defensive all of a sudden.

"Somethin' happened between you two, I can tell." I leaned on the wall.

His surprised face turned into him biting the inside of his cheeks. "Did she tell you?" He whispered, looking around making sure nobody heard.

I just smirked, and shook my head. "Naw, I can jus' tell how you're both actin' since ya'll came back from tha' pharmacy run." I explained.

I could tell he was uncomfortable talking about the matter so I decided to stop, I also realised, that it was none of my business really. But they were both so nice and deserved each other; I just wanted to see Maggie happy really.

Maggie came out through the door at that moment; it couldn't have been at more of an awkward time. I just looked back over to Glenn and just grinned at him, walking past Maggie and into the house.

I looked around, looking for something to do. I wanted to help out in some way, to say thank you to Hershel, and Maggie, and their family for taking me in and just to be a kind person; after all, first impressions are a very important thing.

I saw the door into Carl's room open, and that Hershel was in there by his side. I walked over slowly, knocking on the open door as I stood just inside. Hershel's head looked up and he smiled at me.

"Hey Amber, would you mind watching Carl for just a second?" He asked taking his stethoscope from around his neck and placing it on the bedside table before brushing past me through the door.

I stared at Carl's body, he was slowly but surely getting better. His wound was clearing up a bit and he was awake a lot more than he was before, but he was asleep now.

I perched on the chair in the corner of the room, not knowing how to occupy myself, I don't know how Lori and Rick sat with him all day, I think they must have been fed up by now and that was why they weren't here with him.

As I stared at the pattern on the sheets, his legs started moving from under the sheets, he was waking up. I stood up, not knowing whether to get somebody, his eyes opened and he blinked several times as he stared at me.

"Are ya okay?" I asked him.

He nodded his head, "Are you, Daryl's daughter?" he asked, his voice soft, almost a whisper because he was still quite weak.

I nodded, "Amber," I walked over to the side of his bed, "Ya want me to get somebody?"

He shook his head, "No. I'm fine." He said, although he didn't seem fine. "Where's my mom?"

"She's outside jus' helpin' out with the laundry and stuff." I explained. "There anything I can do for ya?" I offered.

He swallowed and then spoke as if he was sheepish, "We can talk?" He said, trying to be friendly.

I smiled and nodded, leaning against the wall. This kid seemed nice, and friendly, maybe we could be friends?

**AN: Sorry it's a bit short guys. Thanks for reading, please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

I talked with Carl for a while, telling him about my 'adventures' of being by myself and he was amazed, like it was story time and we'd just got to the best part, but in reality, it had to be one of the worst times in my life. Then he told me about how his dad had found him after being rescued in Atlanta. He must have babbled on for a good ten minutes, but all I kept hearing his voice say was "My dad came and replaced your uncle. Now my dad's loved by everyone and your uncle's probably dead." I brushed the thoughts away though; it wasn't good for me to think about.

Eventually he grew tired again, needing rest. "Well Hershel's gonna be back in a minute." I said, wondering if I should keep him awake for Hershel to check on him, but his eyelids were drooping and his face was exhausted from all the talking and smiling and joking with me. "Nevermind."I said and then smiled at him, perching back on the chair opposite the bed. He nodded and closed his eyes, drifting off into sleep.

Hershel came back a few minutes after, allowing me to leave and talk to my dad. Oh wait, no, he was out looking for Sophia. With all the looking he's been doing for her, I was wondering whether he was trying to replace me or something. Like he didn't want me anymore and wanted Sophia. Maybe she was a perfect little girl who was polite, and friendly, and always happy. But then again, he could have just felt sorry for her mother and was trying to help her out. Who was I to say anything though; I barely knew anything about this group of people.

I wandered around the farm for the rest of the day, keeping myself to myself, and popped in to see Carl again, but he wasn't awake. Later on, some of the women of the group started to cook dinner in the kitchen. I approached them and leaned against the wall in the kitchen.

"You want to help Amber?" Lori offered.

I didn't know how to cook. I'd never cooked a meal in my life, not a real one anyway. I'd made sandwiches, and toast, and things you put in the microwave, but nothing else, not like what they were planning. "I, I dunno how to cook." I admitted, feeling quite embarrassed by it.

"How about you set the table for me then?" She asks, drying her hands on a towel.

I nod and get straight on it. We only ever used to set the table properly when we had a real meal, all sat down, eating together, me, my dad, and my mom. But this was a very rare thing. Usually, dad would come home from work, while my mom was leaving for work, and then he'd kiss her goodbye, and make me a sandwich, filled with chicken, lettuce, tomato, and mayo, one of the best things my dad ever made.

I got out a couple a dozen wine glasses and some plates, small ones and big ones. Then Carol brought some dishes with a few vegetables over and placed them on the table beside the plates. I then made my way out onto the porch to tell everyone dinner would be ready soon but was interrupted by the panicky yells from Andrea, sat on the top of the RV on watch. "Walker!" She said, "Walker!" She repeated until everybody had heard. She pointed towards a figure in the distance, emerging from the trees.

I ran over to the RV where Andrea was stood on the roof and the others were all gathered around, slightly cautious about what she was saying.

"Just the one?" Rick approached the RV too, as Andrea peered through the binoculars. She took them down and then went for the shotgun. Everybody started panicking. If it was just one walker they should do it quietly, that way they don't attract anymore. That's what they were trying to tell her but she wouldn't listen so they grabbed their weapons and ran over to it, hoping to take it down quietly before she could shoot.

I'd not even seen a walker in about a week and was intrigued by what would happen and so I followed them, running through the long grass. Dale yelled at me to stay with them but I carried on, feeling for my knife in my pocket. I finally reached where the men had stopped. They weren't making any moves so I barged past Shane; about to do it myself, only to see it wasn't a walker, but my dad.

His face was dirty, and scruffy, more than usual. He had a line of blood, dried to his skin coming from his mouth. His arms were bruised and bumped and scratched, and his side was covered in blood, seeping through his shirt that he'd tied tightly around it, like he had a wound and was applying pressure to it. He had a strange piece of string around his neck, with three human ears threaded through it. His arms dangled lifelessly by his sides, holding his crossbow near his knees.

"Dad!" I said as I went over to him and looked up at him. He glanced down at me but then returned his vision to Rick, who was still pointing his gun at him.

"It's the third time you pointed that thing at my head." My dad said. "You gonna pull the trigger or what?"

With that, Rick lowered his gun and I loosened my shoulders and relaxed slightly. We all did. There was a moments silence where I turned back to my dad about to ask him what had happened to him, but was rudely interrupted by the piercing sound of a gunshot. With that gunshot, my dad flew to the ground, as if he was hit by something, but there were no guns pointed at him! How did it happen?

I dropped beside him, my knees hitting the ground with a thud as I screamed, "No!" I looked at my dad's bruised face and saw his eyes were closed and his face was no longer moving. Just like the first ever walker my dad killed, saving me. I screamed again, "No! Dad!"

Rick rushed over and examined his head. Tears blurred my eyesight as I sat back on the grass, tears running down my face faster than ever. I started to cry, really cry. I wailed and shouted, "Dad! No! Please!" I was pushed out of the way gently by Shane, grabbing my dad's arm and hauling him up, Rick at the other side of him. Then the most relieving sound I'd ever heard, my dad mumbling something to himself. I saw that they were lifting him back over to the house, while Andrea and Dale ran over. Of course, Andrea was the only one with a gun; she was the one who shot my dad.

I got up, my legs almost collapsing beneath me. I saw the backs of Shane and Rick and my dad, but my dad's feet were trailing along the ground as if he couldn't move them. I darted over, shouting for my dad only to see his eyes closed still. "Dad! Dad? Wake up!"

I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, it was Glenn. I looked up to him, in confusion, "Is he dead?" I bawled, tears started streaming down my face again.

"No, he's just unconscious." He tried to calm me down by speaking in a gentler tone, but it wasn't working.

"He just got shot! That ain't good!" I said, trying to make sense of things.

"It was just a graze." Rick said to me, holding my dad's arm over his shoulder.

"An' that makes it all okay?" I started to get angry, my fiery temper burning through. It wasn't very often that it ever showed, but I just couldn't help it.

"Amber, he'll be fine." Glenn assured me, bending down to my level and looking me in the eye.

I paused, looking straight back at him and then just covered my face as I sobbed. "I jus' got him back, I don't wanna lose him again!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

I continued to panic as my dad was dragged by Rick and Shane over to the house, where Hershel was waiting for him, along with everyone else after hearing all of the commotion. I followed them, looking at my dad's face every step I took, checking to see if he was still okay. My breathing was fast and uneven, tears were still pouring down my face, my nose was running and my clothes were covered in dirt from being on the ground. I was a mess, but that was the least of my worries when just beside me, my dad was unconscious from Andrea trying to shoot him.

Why couldn't she just listen to everyone? None of this would have happened if it wasn't for her acting stupid and putting my dad at risk. If it weren't for her, my dad would be awake and he'd be telling us all about how he'd almost found Sophia, and was almost killed doing so. But no, he was unconscious, with a wound in his side and a graze on the side of his head.

I carried on walking, well, almost running if anything. I just wanted Hershel to see him as soon as he could, Hershel would know how to make my dad better. A voice from behind told us to wait, it was T-Dog, but we didn't have to time to wait, we needed to get my dad to the house.

"No, we gotta get my dad to Hershel right now!" I protested, angrier than I should've probably been.

"Isn't this Sophia's?" He said, almost ignoring my comment. He held up a doll that was laid on the grass, it wasn't there before though, it must have slid from my dad's pocket or something. Everyone paused, staring at the doll in disbelief, realising they were closer to Sophia than they ever had been.

"C'mon! My dad needs help people!" I told them all, rushing towards Hershel to tell him what had happened. "Hershel! Please, my daddy, he's got somethin' on his side, an' his head, he got shot but it jus' got grazed." I babbled on, soon even I didn't know what I was talking about anymore.

They dragged my dad over to the house, and everybody crowded, wanting to see. Rick and Shane brought him into the spare room, the on I'd been staying in and laid him on the bed there. Hershel followed them straight after and then I came in too and stared at my dad as Hershel examined his wound on his side first.

Rick looked up to me to see me upset and still sniffling and a few tears still escaping my eyes. He came over to talk to me, "He's gonna be just fine you know." He assured me.

"He ain't gonna die? Right?" I asked, fear in my blue eyes.

He shook his head, "No, but we should probably give Hershel some space for a minute while he sees to that wound." He hinted for me to leave, but I didn't want to.

"But, what if he ain't alright?" I glanced past Rick, to see Hershel prodding at my dad's side and winced when I saw it.

Rick saw and patted my shoulder, "C'mon, he'll be fine," He paused, "I promise." He said it sincerely, like he really meant it.

I nodded and took a look at Hershel inspecting the wound on his head now, then left through the door, followed by Rick and then Shane.

I stared into space, trying to process the last few minutes, but it was all twisted inside my head. I just couldn't get over the fact that Andrea had tried to shoot my dad, even though we told her not to. When he woke up, I wouldn't want to be there when he found out.

I walked slowly up and down the hallway, my boots thudding as they hit the wood. Rick and Shane were also leaned against the wall, waiting for news on him.

About half an hour later Hershel opened the door and I rushed straight over, wanting to hear. "He's awake now, and he's perfectly fine, nothin' we can't sort out ourselves." He said and I darted past him, through the doorway and over to the side of the bed to see my dad's eyes open and holding a cloth to the bloody graze on his head. I knelt down and asked him the most obvious question, "You okay?"

He sighed, "Whad'ya think?"

I managed to squeeze out a half smile, "I was real worried 'bout ya." I told him.

He just sniggered, "What for? I'm fine." He tried to convince me.

"Ya weren't sayin' that a minute ago." I joked with him and he just shook his head playfully and turned to see Rick and Shane walking in.

"How are you Daryl." Rick asked walking over to the same side I was at. Dad nodded and Rick did the same back.

Shane took his cap off and stayed at the other side of the room, "Say Daryl, not to ask you questions as soon as you wake up, but, did you find Sophia's doll?"

I turned from Shane to my dad as he answered, "Yeah, found it jus' before I got thrown off that god damn horse."

Then Shane left for a moment and returned with a map of the area and rolled it out in front of my dad on the bed. Rick knelt down next to me and I took that as my cue to move so I stood up and leaned against the wall, staying out of the way. They started talking about where he'd found the doll and that they could search a lot better now that he'd found it. I wasn't really listening, just too busy thinking about how relieved I was that my dad was alive and being taken care of.

Rick and Shane gathered all of the information they needed from my dad and then left, saying bye to me on the way out. Hershel then went out after them, leaving me and my dad to talk.

"I thought she'd really shot ya know." I admitted, sliding down the wall and sitting down with my knees up.

"Yeah well, she didn't, she missed." He said, taking a look at the cloth he was holding to his head and dabbing at it again.

"Only jus' though." I stated.

"Don't start blamin' people again Amber. You know I hate that." He said to me, too tired to put any effort into lecturing me.

I just bowed my head and played with my fingers again. There was a pause but then I looked up again. "Ya know when we got separated?" I asked. He nodded. "Did ya go lookin' for me like you did for this girl Sophia?"

"Course I did! Me and your uncle Merle went searching for hours and hours each day. After three weeks or somethin', we sorta had to move on with our group. Why d'ya ask?"

I shrugged my shoulders, but I just wanted to know if he preferred Sophia to me or something and grew on her while I was gone.

He shook his head and then tapped the bed, gesturing for me to come closer. I leant on the edge of the bed and looked him in the eye as he spoke. "You mean more to me than anyone else. I was a mess when we lost ya. Couldn't sleep at night knowin' ya were out there by yourself. But I found ya, and right now, I need ya to keep me goin'. Ya understand?" He ruffled my hair and leant back on the bed as I went back to sitting with my knees up, leant against the wall.

I was seeing a side to my dad I'd never seen before. A gentler, more loving one. One that really seems to care about me. The words he spoke just a minute ago were all honest and sincere, I could tell.

After some time, my dad spoke up, "They'll be servin' dinner 'bout now, why don't ya go."

"I wanna stay in here with ya though." I said.

"Quit complainin' Amber. I don't wan' ya to have to stay with me all the time, ya should go talk to everyone." He said.

I sighed and then made my way out of the room, looking back and smiling at him before leaving for the dining room.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

I realised that they still weren't ready for dinner, probably because they'd all been delayed with the incident with my dad. Lori, Carol, Maggie, and a few others were in the kitchen, preparing the last of the meal. They saw me walk by and into the living room to have some time to myself only to be approached by Lori and Maggie, asking how my dad was doing.

"He's jus' fine." I answered bluntly, not wanting to talk to anyone but my dad.

Lori put her arm around me, "Andrea hates herself over this you know. She's really sorry."

I didn't believe that. If she were so sorry then she wouldn't have been so stupid as to do it in the first place. I shook her away and moved over on the sofa. "I find that hard to believe." I told her, honestly.

Maggie looked to me, "Really, Amber. She is." They defended her, yet she hadn't even said sorry to my dad yet.

I just exhaled, not wanting to talk about it anymore. Lori got up, followed by Maggie and they left, Lori speaking to me on the way out. "She's outside if you wanted her."

Why would I want her? Shouldn't she be the one coming to me? Asking me how my dad is after she shot him. I know he hates it when I blame people but I know that even she knows it's her fault, and so does my dad, though he doesn't want to admit it. I ignored Lori's last comment and stayed put, sat on the sofa, my fingers intertwining with each other.

Only minutes passed until Lori announced dinner was ready. She came into the living room once again and tapped my shoulder, indicating for me to come to the table and eat with everybody else. I bottled up all my thoughts and emotions and shoved them to a side, then made my way into the dining room with my head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone, especially Andrea, if I looked at her once more, I'd just lose it and yell at her.

I stood in the doorway, staring at the food laid out on the table and nearly everyone was there, ready to begin. At the sight of so much food, my stomach began churning, I really wasn't hungry and whenever I became annoyed or upset, I lost my appetite. I felt bad, wasting food but then realised, somebody else could simply have it. I made my way to Lori to tell her. "I'm sorry, but I ain't tha' hungry. I don't really wanna eat really." I said quietly, still hanging my head low.

"It's fine Amber. Are you sure?" She asked, as if she understood me.

I nodded and started to walk away when I heard Andrea's voice from behind. "I'm really sorry Amber. It wasn't supposed to happen." She apologized.

I turned around to see her looking at me sympathetically with her head tilted to a side and her eyes big and sorry. The kind of look a puppy gives you, asking for a bone or something. But I didn't buy all that, I judged people by their actions, not their words. "You're sorry?" I said, "You try to shoot my dad in the head and the least you can do is jus' say sorry to me?" the bottle which I had contained my emotions in had started to leak.

Andrea's face was shocked and also slightly guilty. "I know." She breathed out heavily and looked to the ground.

I took a step towards her, "You ain't even said sorry to him yet! My dad could o' died today an' it would o' been your fault! All yours! We all told ya not to shoot but you jus' couldn't do tha' one simple thing, could ya? An' look what happened because of you bein' a stupid idiot! Ya almos' killed him!" My voice had risen to a yell and the rest of the group was now staring, not having ever seen me this mad before at anybody. "He put his life at risk today to go an' find this girl Sophia. Ya know he found her doll?" I then turned to Carol, "My daddy almos' died for your little girl and you ain't even said thanks? I know it's the end o' the world but it's not tha' hard to have some courtesy, ya know. You ain't even tried to find her yourself, ya jus' used my dad to go find her. Well that ain't happenin' no more!" I was now bawling from the top of my voice. "So jus' stay away from me, all o#' ya! Oh, an' stay away from my daddy!"

I screamed the last part and ran off upstairs into the hallway where I sat, leaned on the wall against my back and my knees up, under my nose, as a few tears trickled down my freckled cheeks. I hugged my knees and closed my eyes, wishing this had never happened, all of it. I wanted things back to normal. Before I lost my dad and Merle, before me and my dad had to leave, before I saw mom in the window with a decaying face, before the scary news reports on people biting each other in public places and people being infected with a virus. Before the end of the world. I thought back to the early days of the outbreak…

_The sun was almost completely set and yet we still had found nowhere safe to stay for the night; everywhere was either crawling with walkers or already taken by other people. We drove on, me, my dad, and Uncle Merle on his motorcycle and me and my dad in his truck. The roads were crowded by forests of trees which were dark and mysterious, I dreaded to think of what was hiding somewhere in the woods._

_My dad pulled over and so did Uncle Merle on his motorcycle. Dad left the car, but told me to stay put while he talked to Merle. I saw them both through the windscreen; most probably negotiating where we would stay for the night, then my dad walked back over to the truck and opened my door, letting me get out._

"_Are we stayin' here tonight?" I asked, stepping onto the tarmac and closing the door behind me._

_My dad nodded and walked over to Merle and I followed him. "But as soon as we see daylight again, we're goin'."_

"_Alright." I looked around to see the place was completely deserted, no people or walkers in sight, just trees, the road and us. "Can I go have a look around?"_

"_There ain't nothin' to look at sweetie." Uncle Merle said, leaning against his motorcycle and lighting up a cigarette. _

"_Well then, can I jus' go stretch my legs?" I turned to my dad, who just sighed and nodded._

"_Don't go far though; stay where I can see ya!" He ruffled my hair and I made my way down the road slightly. I looked up at the trees shadowing over me and then looked down to the ground of the woods. Amongst all of the dirt and the twigs, there was a small squirrel, just minding its own business._

_We hadn't eaten in a day or two, we were just too busy travelling. My dad had given me two throwing knives before we'd left but I'd wasted one trying to get a rabbit in the same situation. I still had my normal knife though, tucked away safely in my back pocket. I retrieved my one remaining throwing knife and looked around to see that I'd drifted out of my dad's sight but he hadn't yet noticed. I aimed carefully at the squirrel that still had no idea I was watching it. I took a few steps closer and ended up on the dirt of the forest floor. Counting to three in my head I was ready to throw it when I saw the squirrel look straight up at me and squirm away. I sighed, disappointed that I hadn't got it sooner._

_I then turned around, ready to walk back to my dad, only to be greeted by a walker coming straight at me! Their face was decaying and he had a chunk of skin missing from his side. His weak arms reached out for me as I screamed at the top of my lungs. I lifted my weapon again and quickly thrust it through his skull, and he fell to the ground, blood spurting from the wound._

_As the walker fell, I saw behind that there were a whole herd of them, now running towards me into the woods. "Dad!" I screamed for help, running further into the forest._

_I heard him shout back but I couldn't see him, there were too many walkers to distinguish the dead from the living, it was all just a blur._

_I carried on running, growing more and more panicked with every second. The dead kept walking towards me and I got further and further away from my dad, his shouting was now very faint, and in the distance._

_The distant shouting then stopped but I heard the revving of an engine which lead a few of the walkers away. My dad must have just left me! He just left me! How could he do that? Maybe he knew I was hopeless, maybe he knew that I would be dead within a few minutes, maybe it was for the best._

"Amber!" Carol was crouched down in front of me, "Are you okay?"

I must have either fallen asleep or been completely zoned out. I nodded, I wasn't really though, I was the complete opposite! I got up an ignored her as she continued to worry; I had nothing to say to her anymore, I had said it all downstairs. I'd said everything that needed to be said, no matter how cruel it may have sounded, it was the truth.

**AN: Please tell me if you want me to carry on with this story, and if so, maybe you could give me a few ideas? Thank you, review please...**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

I wandered downstairs and through the dining room, and the living room out on to the porch. It was dark outside, but still light enough to be able to see. I strolled over to the seat on the side of the porch, where Maggie and I usually sat, and fell back into it, closing my eyes for a moment's peace.

The whole day had been so stressful, and upsetting, and made me realise that I seemed to be the only person with any sense around here. Everybody else seemed very forgiving of Andrea, but if someone had tried to shoot any of their family members they would have been just like me, yet none of them understood where I was coming from. Even Maggie, who had been my 'sort of friend', appeared to be on Andrea's side.

Maybe I did over react a little bit when I yelled at Andrea and Carol, but then again, I said what needed to be said. Nobody liked confrontations, they always turn ugly, but they are always needed and always seem to clear the air, so that everything is out in the open.

Maggie rushed out onto the porch and didn't stop to acknowledge me at all, just ran quickly over to the barn. Usually I would have tried to ask her what was happening, what was wrong, but right now, I wasn't feeling my usual self, and just sat there, trying to bring reason into the day's events.

I did my best thinking when I was completely alone, with no chance of anybody interrupting, so I got up and made my way over to a small shed like place, where the chickens were kept nearby. I sat on the ground just outside of the wall on the dirt, hugging my knees, with my head tilted back, looking towards the stars.

I thought back to when I was taught at school about there being a heaven up in the sky, and all people who have ever died were up there, looking down on us and watching us. I wasn't sure whether I believed in all that though, mom and dad never did, or Uncle Merle. Especially now that dead people were walking around with some kind of life still in them, I found it even harder to believe. But I liked to think that my mom was up there, even though she was turned into one of those. But the person I saw pressed up against the window of my house, it wasn't my mom, it wasn't her. When she'd died, she'd gone completely and that was only some kind of virus or something that had taken over her body afterwards. I knew it, I just knew it.

I then looked back over to the farmhouse, realising I had been getting a little bit too upset thinking about mom. The farmhouse and the Greene's were like a breath of fresh air, somewhere sheltered against the horrors of what the world had become. It was some kind of normality that was still left. I saw Maggie and Glenn walk back into the house, Maggie seemed to be flustered and was walking ahead of Glenn and Glenn was trailing behind, holding sheets or something under his arm. I was intrigued by what had happened but then thought against asking them; I was still mad at everyone.

Everybody was now either in the house or in their tents; it was only me out in the cold night now. Although I'd spent quite a lot of nights like this, I was now quite afraid, even though I knew this was a safe place and that there hadn't been any walkers around at all! I just didn't like the eeriness of the land being so wide and vast, it made me think, what if something happened to me now, but nobody heard me because the farm was so big?

I got up again and walked around, not wanting to go back into the house and see everyone. The cold had started to get to me and I had goose bumps on my bare arms so I folded them and rubbed them up and down, but I wasn't getting any warmer. I saw the few tents that had been set up by the group dad had come with. I then saw my dad's tent, set up but it was empty, only holding my dad's belongings.

I made my way over to it, quietly, not wanting to wake any of the others up. I crawled into my dad's tent and zipped the door back up. The winds noises calmed down and there was no breeze on my arms anymore. I examined the tent to see very few things: A couple of blankets for a bed, a bag containing a few of his clothes and such, and then a smaller bag in the corner which I recognised. I crawled over to it and picked it up, realising, it was the bag I had carried around with me when I was with Uncle Merle and my dad.

I unzipped it slowly, to reveal very few things inside. There was a hair brush, a pen, a pencil, a Harry Potter book, and a photo album which had been messed about, torn, ripped, and tattered. I tipped the bag upside down, emptying the contents. They fell out and the pen and pencil rolled over towards the blankets, the book landed with a bit of a thud and the photo album landed safely into my hand. I sat back, crossing my legs and opening the album.

Inside there were photos from all times. A couple of ones were of me when I had been born, in my mom's arms as she lay in the hospital bed, smiling and showing me off. Others were of our family events, like when we had birthdays, Uncle Merle, my mom's sister Auntie Grace came around and we all sung happy birthday and ate some cake. One time, when I turned 6, we had a barbeque. There was a picture of me and my dad, both in our shorts and vest tops, having a water fight, and then another picture of him holding me on his shoulders, letting me wear his sunglasses, and mom in the background smiling at us both. The final picture in the album was of me and my mom, there had been a presentation evening at school and I had been asked to go. My dad was taking the picture of me holding a certificate, and my mom with her hands on my shoulders, proud of her daughter, really proud, that was three days before she'd died and me and my dad had to leave.

I took the photo of me on my dad's shoulders and the one of me and my mom out of the photo albm and slip them into one of my pockets and put everything back inside the bag. My eyes started to shut and I lay back on the blankets, thinking about the photos, whilst closing my eyes and drifting to sleep.

I saw the difference between my dad in the photos and my dad now, well ever since mom died. He smiled a lot less and wasn't that happy anymore. He never talked to me the way he used to, we used to joke about neither of us being able to cook, and both of us being messy people, and how my mom would always yell at us about it. But now, he was different, heck, I bet I was different too, I guess this world really does change people.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

The noise of the tent doorway being unzipped woke me up and I turned over to see my dad, holding the wound in his side in the opening. He climbed in and I sat up and got up off the bed, to let him lay down on the blankets instead.

"What're ya doin' in here Amber?" He asked, making himself comfy.

"I didn't wanna go back into the house las' night, so I slept in here." I said, rubbing my eyes and adjusting myself.

"What, ya mean after ya yelled at ev'ryone?" He said, knowing what had happened last night. I looked down to the ground, ready to hear him lecture me about respecting other people and all that, but all he said was "Don't do it again."

I looked up at him, confused, my eyebrows furrowed together. "Ain't ya gonna yell at me?" I mumbled.

He shook his head, "Nah, you're not exactly yourself right now; I know ya didn't mean it all."

"What?" I said, "Ya think none of it was what I really felt?"

"I know ya Amber, whenever ya go all angry, ya never mean any o' that crap ya say." He was very relaxed, probably because he'd had too much time alone in the house.

"How d'ya know I yelled at 'em?" I asked.

"Heard it myself. I don't think anybody didn't hear it Amber." He joked with me. How could he be so calm at a time when he'd usually be so mad? "Oh, and Carol filed me in on a few o' the bits I missed."

I sniggered and rolled my eyes, "She _would_ be the first one to tell on me."

"Hey! C'mon, don't be cruel." He said, a slight more frustrated than before.

I just went over to the corner of the tent and picked up the small bag, which had been mine, and made my way over to the opening to leave with it. "Hold on." My dad said, tapping me on the shoulder, I turned around and looked at him. "C'mere," He beckoned me to sit over on the blankets next to him.

"What's up?" I asked, sitting down and gripping tighter on to the bag.

He gently took the bag from my hands, opened it and got out the photo album. He opened it up to the last page, where he saw I had taken the photo of me and mom. He looked at me and I started to take it out of my pocket to put it back but he just shook his head and went to go get something from his own pocket. It was a small folded up piece of paper and he handed it to me.

I looked to him first, and then took it. "What's this?" I asked.

Dad shrugged his shoulders, "Mom told me to give it to ya, it was while you were at school, and she got bit. She wrote it while I was at work and when I got home to find her almos' dead," He paused for a second, "she gave it to me to give to ya when I could. Then you got lost and I kept it jus' in case." He said it all very slowly, pausing slightly whenever he said the word mom.

I looked at the folded up piece of paper, so small it fit in the palm of my hand. Slowly, I unfolded it and looked at the gorgeous handwriting my mom had, and she was using a gel pen, one that I had given her before as a birthday present when I could never afford real presents. The letter read…

_Amber,  
If you got this letter from your dad, then that must mean that I've probably taken a turn for the worst and you've had to leave me, but that's okay, it's what I told your dad to do. I'm sorry I couldn't be there to say goodbye to you, but it just couldn't be helped. I'm not too sure what's actually happening right now, but it happened to me, I got bit, came home and now I'm writing this letter. Hopefully you know more about it than me though. I know you'll be fine, as long as you've got your dad, he can keep you safe, and remember, he loves you with all his heart, and don't you ever forget that. If I could be there with you right now, I would, but it's not up to me, and I'm sorry for that. Just please, stay strong my baby girl. I love you. Mom xxx_

"I love you too." I whispered, bringing the letter into my chest and breathing in deeply and looking up, realising my eyes were filling with tears. I quickly blinked and wiped the few tears away, wanting to look tough around my dad. I looked up at him, "Have you read it?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Naw, she said it was for you, an' that means it ain't none o' my business." He smiled at me, and saw my wet eyes. "It's okay to cry sometimes ya know, sometimes we don't wanna, but we have to, it's jus' how it works." He said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned my head on his shoulder. It was just like how it used to be, me and him, close as ever.

I folded the letter back up and grabbed the album, placing the letter in the pocket where the last photo had been, just to keep it safe. "Thanks." I said my voice a little wobbly.

He squeezed my shoulder and then let go, I got up from the blankets and put the album back into my bag, ready to leave my dad to some peace and quiet on his own, but then I asked a question, "Why d'ya keep all o' my stuff dad?"

"A little part o' me told me ya weren't dead, and it was right, it was all worth it in the end though." He smiled at me, a genuine smile. I grinned back at him and then unzipped the doorway and left my dad alone, maybe he still had a little bit about him that was the same, that little bit that was my favourite part about him.


End file.
